Dodge Dakota Engine Swap: preparing the vehicle

With the majority of parts, I went to Tony's Total Performance in Largo, Fl. to do the swap. Tony and his crew specialize in this type of work, so I knew the Dakota would be in good hands.

The first thing done was to completely gut the Dakota of it's engine and running gear;

Next, the frame was "cleaned" of unneeded brackets, and the huge cross member was removed. New coil spring buckets were fabricated and welded on;

With the suspension "roughed in" the engine and tranny were mated together and located in the engine compartment.